Unions line up pay claims if talks fail

TRADE unions are likely to start bombarding private employers with separate pay claims if the social partnership talks do not yield increases in the coming days.

It is believed unions such as SIPTU already have a number of pay claims ready to be issued to hundreds of companies in the event they are snubbed by the Government and employer bodies in the latest round of talks.

The employee representatives will target key employers in each of the sectors to establish increases which can then be spread to other companies in that sector.